John FrithAuthor

John Frith (1503 – July 4, 1533) was an English Protestant priest, writer, and martyr.
Frith was an important contributor to the Christian debate on persecution and toleration in favour of the principle of religious toleration. He was 'perhaps the first to echo in England' of that 'more liberal tradition' of 'Zwingli, Melanchthon and Bucer'.
Frith was born to an innkeeper named Richard Frith in Sevenoaks Inn at Westerham, Kent, England (now known as The Grasshopper on the Green, it has a plaque in his memory, as does the town church of St Mary's). He went to Sevenoaks Grammar School and his tutor was Stephen Gardiner, who would later take part in condemning him to death. He was further educated at Eton College before being admitted as a scholar to Queens' College, Cambridge, although he received his Bachelor of Arts degree as a member of King's. While Frith was at Cambridge, he met Thomas Bilney a graduate student of Trinity Hall, began to have meetings concerning the Protestant Reformation. It may have been at one of these meetings that Frith met with William Tyndale. After graduating in 1525, Frith became a junior canon at Thomas Wolsey's Cardinal College, Oxford.

Personal details

Date of birth

1503

Nationality

England

Date of death

July 4th, 1533 at age of 30

Place of death

London, United Kingdom

Places lived

Westerham
, England

Education

1. Eton College Independent school

Eton College, usually referred to as Eton, is a British independent boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor".

2. King's College, Cambridge Colleges/University

King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University.

3. University of Cambridge Colleges/University

The University of Cambridge (informally known as Cambridge University or Cambridge) is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world (after the University of Oxford), and the seventh-oldest in the world. In post-nominals the university's name is abbreviated as Cantab, a shortened form of Cantabrigiensis (an adjective derived from Cantabrigia, the Latinised form of Cambridge).